School strives for normalcy

VALLEY SPRINGS - It was not a typical day at Jenny Lind Elementary School on Monday, two days after one of the school's third-graders was killed in her nearby home.

Zachary K. Johnson

VALLEY SPRINGS - It was not a typical day at Jenny Lind Elementary School on Monday, two days after one of the school's third-graders was killed in her nearby home.

Camera crews, reporters, grief counselors and volunteers had descended upon the rural school, which also had a beefed-up police presence as the third day of the hunt for the killer continued. The fences were adorned with signs and other memorials - mostly in purple and pink - commemorating 8-year-old Leila Fowler.

Authorities were mostly quiet about the day-and-night search and investigation involving 100 law enforcement officers from around the region, but the Calaveras County coroner did release some information about an autopsy performed Monday that showed the girl had been stabbed multiple times before dying early Saturday afternoon.

On Monday night, Sheriff Gary Kuntz held a news conference with the girl's parents alongside to say that the Sheriff's Office has not named a specific suspect in the case. The parents made no comments.

Kuntz said officials will be looking at registered sex offenders and parolees in the area as part of the investigation.

With no suspect in custody in a tragedy hitting so close to so many so young, Deanna Theodore, 30, didn't know how she felt about dropping her son off to go to kindergarten that morning. "I didn't know what to expect," she said.

So she stayed in class with her son for about an hour and a half before it felt OK to leave.

"It felt like a normal day," she said. "It felt comfortable."

It's scarier at home, she said.

Beyond maintaining a safe and secure environment, staff at the school did what it could to make the day as typical as possible - all things considered, Calaveras Unified Superintendent Mark Campbell said. "It's equally important kids have that sense of normalcy."

There were about 10 counselors on campus, too, each seeing a few children throughout the day, he said.

David Anderson, 49, said he approved of the steps the school was taking. He was waiting to pick up his third-grader after the final bell. She is in the same class as Leila, and she was upset when she learned what happened to her.

It was hard to escape the tragedy at the school. Leila's name was spelled out in tiny ribbons tied in a pattern on a chain-link fence.

She was pronounced dead at 1:01 p.m. Saturday at Mark Twain Medical Center. She had been stabbed multiple times, Calaveras County Deputy Coroner Steve Moore said. More detail was being withheld because of the ongoing investigation, he said.

Little news has surfaced about the investigation since Sunday, when the county Sheriff's Office reported it had collected fingerprints, DNA and other evidence from the victim's home on Rippon Road. Officers had been sweeping the area around the house in an intense and prolonged search for an unidentified male suspect. Officials told neighbors to stay behind locked doors, and investigators interviewed witnesses and family members. Her 12-year-old brother told authorities he had seen an intruder in the home before discovering his sister.

On Monday, the Sheriff's Office reported that the California Attorney General's Office and the state Department of Justice had made processing the evidence a priority.

There was no new news reported about the suspect search, though some streets near the crime scene that had been blocked off to non-residents Sunday were open on Monday. A section of Rippon Road was still blockaded.

The community is "petrified," said Mindy Wheeler, 37, as she arrived at Jenny Lind Elementary to pick up her second- and third-graders. She said she was honest with them when explaining what had happened to their schoolmate.

"Not everybody is your friend," she said. "It's a scary thing. But it's something they have to realize."

But the community can do something, she said, which is why she is going to a candlelight vigil at the school today.

"That's the best we can do, is to support the family."

A memorial fund has been set up for Leila's family at F&M Bank. Donations can be sent to F&M Bank, 18836 E. Main St., Linden, CA 95236. The account number is 421934101.